Home cooks, bakers win in new California rulings

February 22, 2013

Aspiring bakers, canners and other cooks can now sell their wares without breaking the bank or without a complicated tangle of paperwork, after the state relaxed prepared some rules.

In response, the Mono County supervisors on Tuesday, Feb. 19, agreed to keep fees low or non-existent.

“We are trying to encourage such cottage industries, not discourage them,” said Supervisor Tim Alpers, noting many people in the county are “living lives of quiet desperation” due to the recession and unemployment levels in the state and county.

The new state rules allow home cooks to prepare food in their own kitchens, without the time-consuming and costly inspections that once governed such endeavors.

The county supervisors voted Tuesday to keep an eye on the situation in the county and if the demand for permits and certifications was high, to revisit the issue again next year, and possibly add a fee to the permit system.